Blinking Through Illusions
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: A retelling of The Phantom of the Opera with the KH characters (Kairi is Christine, Sora is Raoul, Riku is The Phantom/Erik, Naminé is Meg, etc.). Musical/Leroux based, with some of my own spins on it all. Also, I'm writing my own songs for this, for fear of copyright infringement otherwise.
1. Chapter One: A Scarf Hinting Things

**Prologue**

Kairi awoke in the middle of the night with a start.

Quickly sitting up on her mattress—atop a wide, cement floor—she tried to discern whether or not her Angel was singing for her again: the wonderful, singing Angel that her father had sent from heaven to her when he had passed on.

That tone of heaven had never startled her before, Kairi knew; rather, the haunting baritone usually put her to sleep and calmed her nerves like nothing else could. So what gave?

Very carefully and quietly getting to her feet—so that she wouldn't wake her best friend, Naminé, who was sleeping right beside her—Kairi finally noted just what it was that had caught her attention: the red scarf tied loosely around her neck that held such fond memories for her.

Kairi smiled, as she remembered the kind soul, Sora, who had dove into a frozen lake to retrieve the insignificant item from its depths for her.

And though it had been a wonderful, expensive present from her father—one of the last she'd ever received from him, Kairi reflected now–she'd thought the boy half-mad when he'd promised he'd retrieve it for her.

And get it back for her he had, and many other promises had her first childhood sweetheart kept.

He'd always had a talent for reading her, too, Kairi recalled.

It had started when he'd realized just how important the muffler was to her, and had risked his own well-being for it—and risked was the proper word to use here, for he'd had icicles dangling from his bangs when he'd finally handed the raggedy old thing back to Kairi, a winning smile on his face as he did so.

But there were… other things, too. Like how Sora had realized Kairi didn't like strawberries, without her even having to say it, and had also figured out she preferred warmth to the cold: and thus they had had all of their dates in the blistering attic.

And Sora… he'd never complained once, even though the well-to-do boy really could have, Kairi realized.

Instead, he'd treated her like the most beautiful treasure in the entire world, and through his eyes Kairi had almost believed it…

Fate had separated them eventually, though—much to Kairi's other misfortunes, too–but she still kept Sora close to her heart, and knew that things could have been a lot worse.

The scarf that he'd saved for her all those years ago—that she wore about her every second of every day, even when going to bed—had brought her luck and protected her well.

And so… she couldn't understand why it had awoken her this night, seeming somehow uncomfortable for her to don: something had never once happened for the ballerina before.

And then Kairi heard it: her Angel singing a new song. A song addressed to _her_ , which was something he'd never done for her.

It was truly beautiful, as was all of the music she'd heard this mysterious soul compose, but… there was something about it that unsettled the redhead.

And perhaps even unsettled the fabric around her neck, too, because with clumsy fingers, Kairi found she couldn't untie it, no matter how hard she tried.

 _Kairi, attempting to sleep–her beautiful soul._

The moonlight bathes her, tis the one, true goal.

"I hear you, Angel," Kairi spoke up hesitantly, quietly. She'd long since learned that it was only her who could hear the beautiful voice when it approached her.

Once upon a time, she'd even wondered why that was. But then she'd recalled a stray kitten she had come across as a child—one that had had its tail stuck in a building in an alley, and though she'd easily aided it in its freedom, no one else had seemed to hear its panicked cries at all.

There were just some things in life that people wished not to see, and thus they didn't: a sad thing to behold, really, Kairi had decided long ago.

And so that was part of the reason Kairi answered back to this lonely Angel, even this late into the evening…

That and she didn't want him to be cross with her, like he often was when she forgot her proper posture during their singing lessons.

The Angel did not answer her back, and though Kairi found that a little bit odd, she'd learned a long time ago that her gift from heaven did what he wanted to—when he wanted it—and no time sooner or later than that.

With all that in mind, Kairi thought about getting tucked back into bed, and just going back to sleep.

But with a sudden gust of wind, her scarf was ripped from her throat and sent to the other side of the room, where a shadow lied.

Also, though Kairi was sure she was probably just overly tired and imagining things, she could have sworn that she'd seen the material shape out many different scenes before it had landed in its final resting place.

Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, the young ballerina swiftly and elegantly got to her feet.

She ran to the scrap of fabric quickly, and though fearing that her speed and weight on the floor would wake the others up, she just wanted to get everything done with all ready.

Fortunately, Kairi's movement didn't seem to disturb the others, and she was wrapping the scarf around her neck again before she even knew it: the shadow she'd seen before—where her scarf had landed—now gone.

For one bizarre moment, Kairi stood where she was—contemplating just what could have made her scarf act so insane this night.

It almost… it almost reminded her of the disasters that the Phantom of the Opéra would cause.

Shivering at that thought, even as she got into her bed and under the warm covers again, Kairi thought that if it really was the Phantom who had somehow messed with her scarf, she was more than glad that she'd fought to protect the sentiment of Sora from him.

And just as she thought this, sleep seemed to hit the girl at once.

And somewhere, just a little ways away from her, a certain Sora decided he couldn't wait another day to make his decision about supporting the Opéra Populaire known.

Jade eyes in a certain form, however, then walked over towards Kairi and prepared to run a hand through her hair…

Until the stars glittered in the moonlight, seemingly blinding the creature and leading him back to wherever he'd come from.

Kairi smiled in her sleep then—a certain name, and an Angel both rolling around in her head.

 **Chapter One: A Scarf Hinting at Things to Come**

The next day, Kairi found that she wasn't nearly as tired as she thought she could've been after her sleepless night.

She'd also thought for sure that she'd be a mess of nerves, in having to finally perfect a certain dance step that Madame Larxene had been drilling into their heads for weeks, but mostly she found that she was having a really good day so far.

She and Naminé had gone into town to get a quick bite to eat for breakfast—and for Naminé's part, the girl desperately needed the caffeine, for it seemed that she had slept even less than Kairi herself had—and by the time the girls found themselves strolling back into the opéra house, it was with smiles, sunlight still sinking into their pores some, and many laughs.

Also, Naminé kept insisting that the way Kairi's scarf kept weaving this way and that in the wind was similar to how a dog might walk.

And Kairi, though she couldn't imagine in the slightest how her friend thought that, just grinned—feeling glad that Naminé had found something to entertain her and to keep her awake.

She was relieved, of course, too, that the thing no longer seemed to be possessed like it had been the night before.

"You know, Kairi," Naminé was saying, as the two of them stripped off their coats and purses, before heading to fish their ballet slippers from a stand. "You seem to get better at singing everyday! Even though you're on the other side of the stage, being a chorus girl while I'm a dancer, I can hear you well. You should just sing out, though, so you can be moved u-"

"Naminé," Kairi cautioned, as she sat down to get her left slipper onto her foot—that one always seemed to be tricky for whatever reason. "I don't… I don't want a main part. It wouldn't be proper for me to have one, anyway. I appreciate the thought and all, but-"

 _'I'm not even sure us mere mortals are supposed to share heavens' songs'_ , Kairi wanted to say but didn't.

Instead, she settled on, "If anyone should be moving up, it would be you with your dancing skills! Not someone like me, who your mom doesn't know what to do with, and thus has placed me in two different roles."

Naminé definitely seemed like she wanted to respond to this—her eyebrows furrowing in a way that they only did for the people she trusted, otherwise she feared having her opinion known—but in perhaps realizing they were late for practice beyond measure, Naminé just simply told Kairi to hold the thought, grabbed onto her hand, and then began running with her as fast as she was able to the massive stage before them.

…A massive stage where there seemed to be some new people, and a lot going on, Kairi noticed.

She wanted to ask Madame Larxene if she maybe knew what was going on—she _always_ seemed to know what was going on, Kairi thought suspiciously—but in realizing that the woman would no doubt ask her to take her scarf off again if she did so, the redhead held her tongue for her surrogate mother.

And in failing in her intent, Kairi got into position with the other girls on the far right side of the stage—who seemed to be in a semi-rectangle formation—and set to work.

This new technique… she wasn't exactly crazy about it.

Normally a ballerina's knees needed to stay as straight and fine-toothed as a nail, but Madame Larxene—mayhaps in thinking the audience would get bored with that—had a moment in the act now where the girls needed to bend their legs before straightening them up again, doing so in a snappish pace.

Naturally, as Madame Larxene was a prodigy—even still for her age—she had no problem being able to do this maneuver.

But when the others couldn't accomplish it, she didn't understand at all, and thus Cissnei had ended up breaking her left leg and was out of commission for the time being.

Kairi was dreadfully afraid that the next one to go would be her…

Except now there were times, especially lately, when Kairi got the feeling the woman was being more lenient and gentle with her than she was even with her own daughter:

Something that usually made Kairi's teeth set on edge if she noticed it, for she didn't want to betray Naminé that way, but mostly she just opted to pretend that it wasn't true.

And thus it was even more of a godsend when Madame Larxene came over—in which case the girls that had been slacking off stopped it toot sweet, and Kairi found herself trying even harder—and bid them all do different moments from the show now.

Kairi needn't be told twice, and upon noticing who she assumed to be their new managers—if the rumors Olette were spewing were true, that was—she began springing forward as lithely as she could, picking up the sign necklace that she was meant to, and draped it over her neck—spinning downward until she rested cross-legged on the ground as she did so.

Then, jumping up to her feet swiftly—like a coiled wire—Kairi bowed at the two men in front of her, and tried to ignore the fact that they now seemed to be talking about her with Madame Larxene.

For the rest of the afternoon, Kairi attempted to perfect the dance she'd just done: a dance until now that she'd been certain she had known wholeheartedly, but now that she had done it in front of the managers, she kept imagining she could've done it _so_ much better.

Meanwhile, Naminé had perfected the "leg breaking move"—as the ballerinas called it when Madame Larxene wasn't listening—much better than even her mother had, and kept well away from Kairi—ever mindful of the redhead's scarf that arced dangerously through the air. And then…

Then they were called to attention.

Well… "called" really wasn't the right word, Kairi thought. While at first Monsieur Demyx _had_ tried to silence them all, most everyone had ended up ignoring him—having long ago lost respect for him, when he'd been able to combat the mysterious "Phantom's", if he even existed, gambits.

Then, of course, the new managers attempted the same exact thing. And even though Kairi—and then after her, Naminé—had tried to quiet down their fellow ballerinas for them, it still did nothing.

Finally, Madame Larxene forcibly got everyone's attention by slamming her staff to the floor loudly—clutched in her hand was another disturbing looking letter, with the skull shaped seal of the "Opéra Ghost" on it.

Suddenly, Kairi felt like she was going to be sick.

"Ahh, thank you, Madame Larxene," Monsieur Demyx told her, kind as ever, though Kairi mildly wondered just how real some of that kindness was, seeing as how Naminé's mom—unfortunately—had always been the one to bring him his next set of bad news.

"Now, I'm sure most of you know that there has been talk of my imminent retirement circling around the opéra house lately. I can now tell you that these rumors are all true."

And here Olette seemed to share an arrogant, "I told you so" look with the maestro (Kairi mostly tuned them out, though, and instead returned her attention to the two men standing behind her now retired manager).

"And now, I'd like to introduce to you the two new men who shall now be running the Opéra Populaire."

And whatever might have happened after that moment instantly went out the window in Kairi's mind—for standing not but an inch behind the two managers was the sweet young man she'd be thinking of no more than ten short hours ago.

"It's Sora," Kairi choked out to Naminé, though she could barely even hear her own word—make out her own voice—as she suddenly felt like she was looking up at everything from underwater.

But there was certainly no mistaking that it was him. The young man before Kairi still had the unruly chestnut colored hair, the cerulean blue eyes that she wanted to get lost in all over again, and the cheesy smile that was both endearing and cliché at times.

And just like that, Kairi's heart began fluttering a mile a minute—like it had when she and Sora had been young and in love—and she instantly cursed herself.

There was… there was no way he could want anything to do with her now, Kairi realized. Fate had all ready ripped them apart once, and now Sora was even more important than he had been before—investing in the arts and giving her money to live, as it were.

So, no: he could never again love one such as she, could he?

"He seems so great and supportive, Kairi," Naminé told her friend perceptively, as she brushed an unruly strand of Kairi's hair down—the both of them waiting for the inevitable moment where Sora would look over to them and see his old childhood sweetheart.

But the moment never came. A rustling in the rafters above them instead distracted sora, and after that someone was calling him over to do some paperwork: something he instantly acquiesced to.

And thus Sora was once again gone away from Kairi before she could even utter a word.

Feeling dejected, Kairi hung her head, and began getting back into the formation that Madame Larxene was now telling them to again.

"He… he _wouldn't_ want me," Kairi murmured, pulling out some hair from behind her hair so that she could hide behind it—her annoying scarf now blowing in the direction that Sora had just gone in, as she did so.

Noticing this herself, Naminé ran a hand over the muffler, gingerly, before assuring Kairi, with much emphasis in her voice, "He didn't _see_ you."

And though Kairi did smile at Naminé at this, thanking her silently for her attempt at mercy, it didn't even begin to reach her eyes.

And it didn't matter anyway, for they had a dance to be getting back to now, and…

And to duck immediately, when a sudden prop came hurtling towards them from above—with Naminé nearly right under it!

Kairi screamed deafeningly, pushed her friend out of the way, and nearly went into shock when she felt the weight of the item on her foot.

But as it turned out, Kairi's foot was mostly fine, and it was someone else entirely who was stuck beneath the prop: Olette.

Naminé grabbed onto Kairi at once, and pulled her far away from the wreckage they'd both nearly been part of.

And only when her fingernails—though probably unintentionally—dug deep into Kairi's did she speak. "That was… that was him, wasn't it? The Phantom of the Opéra."

Looking up to where the object had presumably fallen from, Kairi thought she saw someone or some _thing_ up there—as well as a familiar flash of green—but in an instant it was gone.

Frowning, Kairi returned her attention to the harmed Olette, and prayed upon hope that the woman would be all right.

Kairi might not have cared for the singer's attitude much, but no one deserved to have projectiles thrown at them.

Olette awoke then with a vengeance; and though it seemed she hadn't really been injured, her pride most definitely had been.

Her emerald eyes flashed as dangerously as the pair that Kairi had just seen did. That look nearly left her instantly, though, but only to be replaced with a new kind of vulnerability.

Suddenly to Kairi, Olette seemed very much like a schoolgirl—stuck on a meager assignment—as she looked over to all three managers with sad eyes. "I can't do this anymore," she said—her brown hair moving to secure her face just like how Kairi had wished her own would protect her expressions earlier. "I'm tired of having this whole opéra be at war with my singing, so unless you can fix it, I'm done. Goodbye."

And far sooner than Kairi could have ever even imagined, the Opéra Populaire had lost its star.

Kairi's eyes were wide as saucers, trying to take this all in and understand what it might mean for her, and so she didn't even notice it when the conversation had suddenly become about her.

"Kairi can sing it, Sir," Naminé said, speaking much louder than Kairi had ever heard her be before.

The ginger glared at her friend, feeling very much betrayed, and then she began to protest. "I uhh… I really can't. I just broke my ankle, you see, and I'm really not that great-"

But she was being guided over to the maestro, anyway.

And as she was, Kairi thought she heard the old familiar voice calming her down again and making her forget about Sora for the moment.

 _Sing, Kairi, and show why we must balk at Olette._

Sing, Kairi, like you did on the day we met.

And closing her eyes, and letting the music take her over again, Kairi finally began to sing in a high soprano—reluctantly—and everything else fell away.

The words came from her as if they had a million times, and Kairi almost had to wonder if it was her Angel himself that had put them there.

 _Get me through this_

Your awful exit

The kind that still makes me wish you'd stay

Time is my ally, it makes me remember

But I can't lose so much sense of myself in the day

And as she finished up the piece, Kairi got the sense that her voice must have been a rousing success.

People in the Opéra Populaire cheered all around her, though it wasn't the type of inappropriate sounds one would make on a family member's day, but rather that of the rhythmic applause that only came to those who commanded the opéra house.

Something that Kairi understood that she herself must have been doing now.

And at the shock of _that_ , Kairi almost fainted outright, but then there were arms that quickly snatched her up: those of her beloved Naminé, it seemed.

But just for a moment… Kairi had thought they belonged to someone else.

And just for a moment, she was left to fret about whether or not drugs had somehow made their way into her own head.

The rest of the day somewhat passed by in a dream-like blur for Kairi.

She practiced and practiced the aria—until she was almost certain she must've ruined her vocal chords forever for the strain of it all, though this, thankfully, was not the case—and before she knew it, she was in Olette's dressing room, getting ready to go on stage of all things—Naminé helping to get her ready the whole time.

"I'm not… I'm not cut out for this, Naminé. Really I'm not. I'm– I'm much too shy. And I don't sing out enough, either! You should hear how my teacher reprimands me for being so quiet with my voice!"

And Kairi was very nearly clutching onto the other girl's arm and shaking it in desperation now.

"…Right," Naminé answered back, clearly trying to sound playful, but there was an edge to it that Kairi didn't like: one that she even somewhat agreed with. "This mysterious voice who coaches you, that you know nothing about, except he might be an Angel of Music sent by your father."

The thought of Kairi's father instantly sobered the young woman up, and even made her begin to take her upcoming performance more seriously.

Her father– he had always loved her voice so, and had wished that she'd do something with it, Kairi knew. So if she could honor his final request by singing this part now, then Kairi promised herself that she'd do just that.

Kairi placed the last pearl that was meant for her hair into place, and was just about to head out onto the stage, but Naminé's sudden great humor stopped her. "It really can't be so bad, Kairi. I mean, if you weren't doing this now, you'd just be pining over Sora and all your own insecurities again, and-"

And though there was part of Kairi that wanted to admit she'd be much more comfortable doing _that_ —and that thinking about all that could've been between them really wasn't that bad for her, as it was good to want too much—she instead ended up gathering her skirts about her, running onto the stage, and calling back over her shoulder, "And we just couldn't have that, could we, Nami?"

Which was the perfect segue to land her in front of all of the thousands of people who had now come about to see her sing—no, Kairi quickly amended the thought; they were here to hear _Olette_ sing: someone she couldn't compare with at all—and she was once again struck with the idea of how much she _didn't_ want this.

The former ballerina wasn't even dressed like herself right now. Instead, she was decked out in items of Olette's that she would never, _ever_ be able to afford.

But… if one good thing had come from all of this, Kairi supposed that it was the fact she didn't have to do that one dance number now.

And so keeping that thought in mind, she began to sing—dreading all ready that the song was quickly leading up to a high E6—and hoped beyond hope that her performance wouldn't end up making the Opéra Populaire go out of business on Sora's first night of being its patron.

That fear quickly left the redhead's mind, however, when the music began taking her over like it always did—her body swaying in a certain way that it only did when _he_ sang.

The people all around her were nearly inconsequential now, and Kairi could barely even make them out for the lights shining onto her from afar.

All that mattered was her voice… her voice showing the technique that belonged to an Angel: something that the Angel himself couldn't show at all.

 _I wish that your countenance was different_

I wish that it didn't have me thinking of you so

The way you'd incline your head towards me oh so long ago

But I won't be so foolish again

Look at me one last night, before it will all end

Having sung the last words that went along with the score, Kairi left the stage in a fuss—feeling much like Cinderella fleeing from the ball, even—for she didn't want to deal with the people's reaction, whatever it may be, until she was good and ready for it.

But as Kairi made her leave, many of the candles that had been lighting the stage mysteriously went dark: something that could've been for her scarf or cloak making them do so as she ran past them, Kairi suspected, but the opéra singer couldn't shake the feeling that it was for something else entirely.

Perhaps it was her Angel, showing her that he was pleased with her work, and that she'd done a splendid tribute for the Music of the Night.

And if that was the case, Kairi decided that she needed to go to the basement to light a candle for her father in thanks—for it was he, through the Angel that he had sent, that had allowed this to happen—STAT.

When Kairi came back up from her sworn duty to her father—and smiled her own secret smile, as down there she'd heard her Angel's voice telling her just how well she'd done this night—it was to see that her room was covered in flowers and honors.

Likewise, there was a ton of people outside partying and clamoring to get to her, it seemed.

By nature Kairi was a shy girl, but just this one night she thought maybe she could be a little bit adventurous and venture out.

And if nothing else, she could always pal around with Naminé, she supposed.

It was with thoughts of the blonde girl—who oddly could have been Kairi's twin for how much they looked alike—that Kairi ended up seeing it: a tribute to her that was so much akin to her hair color.

This heart shaped emblem that was now presented on Olette's vanity as a gift… Kairi had seen it before.

Her Angel maybe even sporting the design while being in his shadows, perhaps.

And no doubt… No doubt he thought her performance had been superb, if he'd gone as far as to copy his favorite item to give to her.

Kairi squeezed the emblem to her own heart then, feeling much glee and emotion for it herself, when suddenly someone came sprawling through her door—having tripped, it seemed—rolling atop the carpet, and somehow landing with himself atop her:

It was a sight that made Kairi cry tears of joy. Apparently her favorite person in the world was still as klutzy as ever.

"Sora?" Kairi questioned, trying to pretend that she was only now seeing him for the first time since they were children. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"Here to congratulate you on your job well done, of course, lovely lady! You are so talented, Iri; really."

And here—though only after having grinned his most award-winning smile at her—Sora finally noted the compromising position they were in, quickly got to his feet, offering Kairi a hand up while doing so, and then pulled her into a real and proper embrace.

An embrace that Kairi couldn't help but to return, even though she knew how strict her Angel was about who she consorted with, and how he always wanted her to rest accordingly after having given her singing her all.

Right now, though, Kairi couldn't even find it within her to care.

Sora was once again in arm's length of her, and that was all that mattered to her in the end.

As he placed his chin atop her head, came these words from Kairi herself, "I missed you, Sora! I missed you so much! I just can't believe you're here now! This is so great!"

And outside, a key twisted in a lock out in the darkness—the fabled Phantom of the Opéra was locking Sora out of his room for the night, and making sure that when he ended up taking Kairi away with him, he'd have no choice but to be there when it happened.


	2. Chapter Two: Eyes the Color of the Sky

**Chapter Two: Eyes the Color of the Sky**

"But seriously, Sora," Kairi laughed, as she and her dear friend convened to a more proper position: her sitting in the only chair in the room, while the young vicomte stood right in front of her. "What are you doing here? It's not that I'm not _happy_ that you're here, but..."

 _But I'm a bit worried for your safety. I now understand that my Angel must have caught wind of you before all this, and that was why he was behaving so angrily and mysteriously before. And even though I love my Angel, Sora, you being targeted by the wrath of heaven is certainly not something I want_ , Kairi thought, though she dared not say it.

And for the first time since Sora had entered the dressing room with her, she found herself considering just how forthright the Angel would be with her later for missing her rehearsal. The redhead sighed.

Sora, meanwhile, didn't seem to notice the strain that Kairi was under. For snorting loudly, before he grinned at her and went as far as to put a hand atop her own, Sora said with much humor, "Why, I'm here to do all sorts of unmentionable deeds with you, of course... And that was a _joke_ , Kairi! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! It seems that Roxas dragging me all over tarnation-to some of the most questionable places, even-hasn't helped my social graces at all. Hehehehe."

And at that last bit from Sora, as well as the embarrassment he clearly felt on his part, Kairi tittered, despite herself.

Even with how untoward Sora's previous sentence to her was, Kairi couldn't help but admire Sora for his sincerity and spontaneous. Kairi often wished that she could be that way herself...

After all, after the death of her father, Kairi had felt nothing but numbness for the longest time. But maybe if she'd been gifted with the shot of life Sora's words alone seemed to evoke, maybe things would've been different.

In fact, for such a thing-and such of a way that he lived his life-Kairi thought that maybe she was beginning to fall in love with Sora again.

So aflutter was her heart at the moment, even, that Kairi knew as soon as she got to visit Mamma Valérius again, she would be telling the old woman about Sora the first chance she got.

And though it was unbeknown by Kairi in that moment, she had begun to hold tight to her ring finger with her right hand (at the thought of her love for Sora). And in doing so, she had left a certain indent on it that would later come back to be important for her in the future.

Now, there were more important things to contend with than all that, however. And though Kairi _did_ sort of want to talk to Sora about Roxas (for he had just unwittingly brought him up), that was a conversation she would save for another time.

That topic, after all, would just throw into sharp relief the kind of things about their society that Kairi very much didn't want to talk about: the kind of things that Roxas seemed to be quite fluent in, and even to swear by now, it seemed.

"Sora," Kairi started, peering into the sky-blue eyes that she loved so much-and feeling oh so rude, that Roxas had been mentioned, and that she wasn't even asking Sora about the great news she'd heard about him and her friend Xion-with excitement beginning to eat away at her, as she prepared to tell Sora what very much was the embodiment of their childish dreams come to life. "Do you- do you remember the stories my father told us about the Angel of Music?"

"Of course I do, Kairi!" Sora instantly surprised the ginger with his earnestness, as he leaned down to her level and even placed his forehead against her own: another thing that Kairi was against-for it was far too forward!-and yet she found that she couldn't help getting closer to it and adoring it, all the same.

Sora... he really was like his own personal sun, wasn't he? How Kairi had always loved him for that!

"I remember, Kai," Sora began whispering to her-something that Kairi couldn't help thinking odd, for Sora was usually such a loud and boisterous person, though it somehow served to fit their moment together here perfectly. "I remember that your dad seemed to give Little Lotte, the girl that the story was about, a lot of your features when telling it. In fact, as he did so, I couldn't help looking over at you and seeing _you_ as Little Lotte.

"Also, if memory serves correctly, we first heard the story the day after I met you, in having gone into the lake to retrieve this wonderful scarf of yours. But anyway..."

The news of this momentarily sidetracked Kairi. Oh, so Sora _had_ noticed that she still had her scarf then, Kairi thought with a beaming smile on her face?

That very thing-that Kairi knew had given her luck during her previous performance-was now draped over the armchair that she was in; it was even between her and Sora both now, seeming to brush both of their faces simultaneously as it existed in the space.

And though Kairi couldn't help thinking that that must have been very, _very_ meaningful-and mayhaps something she should've been focusing on, for perhaps it was a sign from her late father, who had loved Sora every bit as much as she did-she didn't want to lose her chance to tell Sora this great news, and so she blurted out, "Sora, I've been visited by the Angel of Music!"

Sora blinked. And for a moment, Kairi worried that he hadn't heard her or that maybe he hadn't understood her. But finally, his dumbstruck expression seemed to turn to one of glee, and he once again sprung up to his feet-punching a fist in the air as he did so.

Kairi giggled at that particular action on Sora's part.

Good. He was still very much a kid, then. She wouldn't have had it any other way, for so... so was she.

"I had figured that you were so perfect tonight that it _had_ to be something like Divine Intervention. I mean, not that you weren't perfect at singing _before_ this turn out, Kai, but if anyone could be visited by a celestial being that would help better them themselves, it would be you. This is just so awesome. Congrats! You'll have to tell me all about it at dinner in a bit, 'kay?"

"Wait, Sora-" Kairi began, only now beginning to realize her follies. Not only was she all _ready_ standing up her Angel-who would no doubt be _furious_ -but now Sora wanted her to even do so further.

And it wasn't just those things, either... Kairi, for whatever reason, feared for Sora's sake where her teacher was involved. She really shouldn't have even mentioned the Angel to her childhood friend at all, but now she'd started a conversation with him that she wasn't too willing to finish.

Sora, who was on his way back out the door he'd come from-to no doubt get his carriages and Roxas ready, she thought-must have noticed Kairi's sudden hesitation and horrified eyes, for the smile instantly slid off his face and he was by her side at once-draping a hand onto her shoulder reassuringly and everything:

"Hey, please come out with me tonight, Kai. You're- you're scaring me. If you _don't_ come along, I'm going to have to guess that these guys here forbade you to eat, or something, and who wants that, right? Hehe."

"Right," Kairi agreed with a grin. And she must have held onto it long enough to convince Sora that she was all right, thankfully, for he did end up leaving her, but...

When he did vacate the premises, Kairi couldn't help but to slump down in her seat, feeling doubtful. "Right... who would want that?"

Honestly, Sora had hit the nail on the head more than he probably would have otherwise thought, Kairi realized. For she was being _somewhat_ restrained from doing things by her Voice...

A Voice who, at the very least, certainly wasn't _starving_ her, as Sora had feared. If anything, he probably made sure she got _too_ much water, for a dry throat ruined one's singing.

...And now her thoughts were getting ridiculous and crazed, Kairi noted-laughing nervously some now herself.

Maybe Sora was right: maybe she _should_ just go to supper, and think about some things.

And Sora, very much like Naminé and Mamma Valérius, was someone that Kairi knew that she could confide in. So getting to her feet, wrapping a jacket around herself, and putting her scarf about her, Kairi was just about to follow Sora out into the hall.

And then she ended up hearing _his_ new words:

 _Foolish boy, foolish boy, using an old nicknamed coined._

 _Foolish boy, foolish boy, making the lady annoyed._

"Angel, you are... you are right," Kairi was forced to admit, bowing bashfully as she was, though she still felt concerned for Sora and aimed to paint him in a better light in just a moment. "I was... I _was_ disheartened that he wanted to jump back into the swing of things with me, acting like nothing else has happened since our separation at all, but..."

"Come see me, Kairi," the voice answered back then. Surprising Kairi so much so, that she almost fainted backwards into the armchair behind her.

She could count on one hand the number of times that the Voice had spoken to her instead of just singing, and this was perhaps time number two.

The Angel must have been wanting to see her for some dire reason, and-

"Let us celebrate how beautifully your singing was tonight, and let me show to you that I mean the boy no harm."

"I-"

Kairi might have paused, but before she could, she found that her hypnotic instructor was crooning to her again the same heartfelt and aphrodisiac-like notes he'd used to get her to beg him to train her in the first place.

Kairi's body began swaying for this, almost of its own accord, and she found herself drawn to the mirror at the end of her room. There there was a pair of jade eyes being reflected to her, the likes of which she had only seen-in a dream, maybe-once before.

They were gorgeous, yet full of such pain, that they instantly moved Kairi's kind heart. And thus, _she_ began walking towards them, in the idea that maybe if she got closer to the owner she could find a way to solve his own impossible problem?

Just before Kairi, where there should have been glass from her mirror, the singer found only empty air and perhaps the slightest bit of smoke now.

A hand, on the other side of what was clearly a passageway, reached out for her.

And Kairi, pausing only for a second-as she seemed to hear something over the loud music: another voice that for many years she had known even better than her own-took it, and curled her fingers around the man's digits: this was her one, vain attempt to offer him some warmth in this otherwise cruel and empty world.

...

It wasn't until Kairi was inside the tunnels-the cobblestoned, dark trails that her escort no doubt wanted her to traverse through with him-that she began to regret this venture.

Something in the very back of her mind, something that she could just barely reach in this instance, told Kairi that this was wrong.

Furthermore, this mysterious person-that Kairi was only now beginning to piece together in her head who he was, since he had temporarily stopped singing and in doing so had awarded her a moment to think-was wearing a mask on half of his face.

Why the man-who held on to her hand, oh so very gently-would want to hide his face, the former dancer did not know: he had such lovely green eyes that she must have before been dreaming about; his silver hair was otherworldly and so very interesting to look at for Kairi, and even his thin lips seemed to belie a quiet kindness there.

But even with all of that, if this man wanted to hide himself for whatever reason, then there must have been some sort of dastardly reason for it.

It was this that made Kairi hesitate, as she began fearing just what this person meant to do with her when they reached their intended destination.

And she very nearly began to cry out for help, and to retrace her steps back from where she'd come, but she did none of these things.

The most important (and horrid) reason she did not was that that intoxicating Voice had begun to belt anew, and Kairi found herself forgetting every qualm she'd ever had as he did so.

But also... but also Kairi aimed to keep some sort of good position in this situation she found herself in, and she would do this by reclaiming her calm; she would count the many torches as they now passed by them, and stray water droplets pattered against them-just as Kairi had done a similar game with Sora when they'd been children, and had been out late asking her neighbors if they had any new stories to spare for them-and she continued forward with her captor.

It was a completely strange situation, too, Kairi's heart found. For on one hand, so at a loss was she with this man, the redhead somewhat fancied using the scarf about her as some sort of weapon, if it came down to it (and this at once made Kairi wonder about herself and to feel great terror, for she usually was not a violent person at all; it was almost as if this thought had been reluctantly imprinted into her mind, even!).

But on the other... she found herself at first humming with the Voice that she loved and feared above all else, but even that soon gave way to the singing much more common of her.

So much so, in fact, that Kairi couldn't help thinking then that there couldn't be anything more gratifying for the soul-than to sing music in this way-as she made a turn to the right, and then descended some hollow, spiraling staircases with the creator of this maze.

Kairi was almost even smiling at this point, but then something ghastly occurred: the two of them had to stop for just a moment-something that would have been a very good thing normally, for Kairi's legs were beyond aching at this point and she needed a break-but now there seemed to be multiple gargoyle coats of arms on the walls littering the walls behind them.

How had she... how had she not noticed it before, Kairi fretted-beginning to pull pieces of her hair out, as she turned this way and that, looking for some sort of exit?! Had she been drugged to be able to miss something so obvious before? Or-

And, oh god... What was the worst thing now, to the girl who had just nearly collapsed to the ground with the shock of it all? That the two of them were now at the tide of some murky, sea green-colored lake: a lake with the strangest current that Kairi had ever seen. The same current that she would later find out to be the "Siren" invention of Riku's, that drowned anyone who got close too his house without his permission.

There was also a boat at her feet... a boat that looked far too much like a bed for Kairi's liking, and she didn't want to think about beds and this man in the same context at all!

And so she finally began letting out the scream that had been growing within since she'd started this perilous journey, but it didn't last long.

For behind her, her supposed "Angel" placed a cloth with some chloroform over her mouth-promptly knocking her out-while he patted her hair, and Kairi saw stars, all the while.

...

The next thing that Kairi was aware of was that she was being lifted out of the canoe-in some area that she hadn't noticed before-and that feeling was beginning to come into her legs again.

When had- when had she lost feelings in them to begin with, though?

Kairi swallowed nervously, not liking at all that her memory was completely foggy, and that she was now having to be treated like a toddler by...

By someone-and some _thing_ -very major that she was completely forgetting at the moment-and Kairi was near certain that she'd never once aimed to reach this place, wherever it was, and so she must've been kidnapped, and that she may have even done and said some completely out of character things while on her way here-but it all came back to her in the worst way possible, when she suddenly felt something brushing her toes, and looked down to see a familiar shock of hair and thin lips at her feet.

"Oh my god!" Kairi gasped as she became as thoroughly as spooked as a horse would, and meanly pulled away from the man who meant to kiss her toes, as if she was the most royal person he had ever had the benefit to meet. But what could Kairi say? She didn't trust her "Angel" at all anymore... or just how close his head had been to being underneath her many skirts.

Thankfully, at her cry of outrage, the man got to his feet and raised his hands up-palms-forward in a defensive manner-as if her words had burned him.

And Kairi, even with as freaked out as she was at the moment, wished that he hadn't reacted in such a way. She didn't want to hurt _anyone_ , for her heart was still too good-natured for its own good and always would be.

"You don't... you don't have to be afraid, Kairi. I promise you that I won't hurt you. It is I: the Voice that his been coaching you all this time, but I must admit to my... ahem... deceiving you, unfortunately. I am neither an Angel nor a ghost, but simply Riku. And I am here to love you for my life long, if you will let me."

It was the most glorious and heartfelt thing that Kairi had ever heard in her life. And normally, it would have even been even more meaningful than Sora having earlier told her that her singing could have only been something divine... had Kairi not been still aware of the most important detail:

And it was a detail that she meant to hoard over this "Riku", her deceiver by his own admittance, as he now promised her the world and his "love" to mask his true intentions for her.

He hadn't brought her to this bizarre house on the water for no reason whatsoever, after all, and Kairi had a sinking suspicion she knew what that reason was:

"That must be so easy for you to say while you hold all the keys in your hand, mousier, but if you really cared about what _I_ wanted at all, you wouldn't have resorted to such methods. You wouldn't be holding me here now. So please, Riku: for the sake of keeping our bond in tact, as well as the friendship that I thought we had: please let me go."

Just then, Riku stepped closer to Kairi, and she reactively flinched backwards-getting much closer to the house she wanted nothing to do with, but further away from the lake that only seemed too eager to drown her. She didn't know which could be the better compromise, really.

"You're all ready judging me like so many other people have, Kairi," Riku chastised her, as he stuck a hand out at the level of her neck. Whether he meant to massage her muscles there-for they _did_ hurt for all of the frantic looking around she was doing-or to break it when he came in contact with it, Kairi did not know, and so she began to sob.

"But I can't court you in the normal way, my love, if you'd allow me to explain, you'd see that."

"Lies, lies, lies!" Kairi literally sang each word-to drive the injuries she was inflicting even further into Riku's soul, something that Kairi knew he rightfully deserved-as she found the third option she was looking for, and prepared to take it:

Just there, at the very edge of the bank she now found herself on, was a thing of stairs that seemed to lead up to another story.

It looked like she would have to dive into the room up there, and perhaps break a bone from the fall for her efforts, but knowing it was her only option, Kairi continued to talk to distract Riku. She just needed to skirt around him, and she'd be free!

"You don't really love me, Riku, and you can't! You only love my voice that you hear-or more accurately, _yourself_ -repeated back at you, and I should have realized that a long time ago. I won't make the same mistake again, though. So goodbye now!" And Kairi began darting for the steps that would lead to her salvation as fast as her feet would take her, but it was not enough.

When Riku grabbed hold of her waist from behind, Kairi called him every manner of vile thing she could think of; she kicked and punched at him, and did everything she could think of to try and escape.

If he- if he had her in his grasp like this now, would he carry her into his house, then, force her into his bed, and-

 _I_ _'m just a child, Riku_! _Something that_ you _should know, because you directly preyed upon that_. Please _don't hurt me_ , Kairi wanted to scream out and beg with all of the strength that she had.

Riku, however, seemed to have his own things that he wanted to shout out: "Stupid, foolish girl! You think that will take you to your freedom, _eh_ Kairi? Well, that just shows what you know! You nearly just became a victim of my torture chamber, child, but don't worry: I saved you from it, and from the impossible task of finding the one mirror you could have used to escape its horrors, had you fallen headlong into it. Not that I expect any thanks on your part, however."

It was just too much for Kairi to handle: the knowledge that her "Angel" was no more than a very human nut job-and had been lying to her from the start-as well as this kidnapping, and now understanding that this man had tortured people before... Kairi thought that she was like to go insane with it all!

But fighting against that idea with every fiber of her being, Kairi finally stopped fighting against Riku-and rather went slack in his arms-and tried to find any truth, or facet of something, that she could grab onto and attempt to right herself with in this hell. "That thing you were saying before, Riku... About me understanding things if I let you explain them? Explain it all to me now, please."

He was clearly debating it heavily. And Kairi could feel his mask pressing into the back of her head, for the order she had just given him: no doubt hinting that whatever his story was, it was connected to his touchiness with his face. But finally he _did_ comply.

Riku let Kairi go, turned her to face him, and grabbed her hand to begin leading her into his mysterious home.

And once again, Kairi hesitated, for she knew that the man clearly wanted her in _some_ regard-for otherwise he wouldn't have made her voice certain lyrics of his in their practices together-but Riku was swift to alleviate that particular worry of hers. For the time being, anyway.

"Kairi, you have nothing to worry about from me when it comes to that. I wouldn't have created a room _specifically_ for you down here, if all I'd wanted from you were for you to warm my bed. Now come along now, I don't particularly like seeing you so close to this lake and my torture chamber, dear."

 _Then why'd you build it, you psycho_? Kairi allowed herself to think in the luxury that was her own mind, but externally she was much more interested in what Riku'd have to say to her now, as he finally led her over the threshold she'd been fearing earlier.

That, and Kairi was also interested in her promise to herself that she someday _would_ visit that god awful torture place from hell, in order to map a way out for any poor soul that happened to find themselves in there.

But Kairi, for the life of her, wouldn't give that away now. So instead, she focused on the candles that Riku had littering every square inch of his interior-many of them even being under black gauze, which Kairi couldn't figure out how they didn't catch fire that way-and he finally gave her her answer.

"I was... I was an architect for the Shah of Persia, Kairi. And I built a torture chamber for him there, similar to this one here, and his son... His idiot son-who was far too curious for his own good, and who I _told_ to stay away from it-fell into the place and died. Ever since then, he's been out for my blood... And so, that's one reason, at least, that I must hide my face from the world. If you do anything for humans, allow yourself to show them any sort of vulnerability, they always end up betraying you. Let that be a lesson to you, Kairi. Especially where your precious vicomte is concerned, eh?"

 _And so... and so he takes to attacking Sora again, and proving that he doesn't know him in the slightest. And didn't he promise me that he'd prove he meant Sora no harm in my coming here with him? Well, I certainly don't buy_ that _now_ _._ _Though I understand Riku_ himself _better now. And maybe... maybe his reason for not wanting me to be around his awful chamber isn't completely selfish, after all. Maybe it's a result of what happened in Persia, but..._

"There still would have been better ways to go about this, Riku," Kairi reprimanded the godforsaken creature before her, as she finally saw what could have only been her room and went there.

Riku may have been honest that he didn't want her in his bed right now, but Kairi didn't exactly want to tempt him by being near it, either.

And so she went into the second room, ducked her head out her own temporary door, and looked at the emerald eyes that gleamed far too eerily and malevolently in the connecting hallway. "You say... you say that you love me, but you hate humans by your own admission. And so... and so you must hate me too, then, to have gone after me in such a way. I'm a human, too, I mean, and I hardly doubt you'd treat yourself this way, so... But if you really want someone to truly love you equally, you've got to give them an inch that they can work with. You've got to-"

 _You've got to have it be more than just about this voice you have given me. Though I guess the book of "Faust" on my table here is proof you were listening to me about_ some _non-music things, I guess._

But quickly proving to Kairi that Riku was much more monster than man, he slammed her door shut abruptly in her face, and effectively locked her in there.

Naturally, Kairi began yelling at Riku and pounding at the door, as she tried to make him understand that he _must_ have been a liar if he did this, for this wasn't love at all.

And in response to that? Riku simply told Kairi that she was wrong on all accounts, and that as she began learning new things in her week alone with him, she'd soon come to understand that.

And Kairi, finally giving up the ghost on trying to be anything other than horrified, depressed, and near suicidal in this nightmare, fell to her floor and cried.

How she wished she had gone with Sora that night! But now it looked as though she would never get that chance.

What if she- what if she were to be trapped in here forever, Kairi thought, nearly catatonic?! Surely Riku had just showed her that he wasn't at all emotionally stable, and could very well do whatever he pleased with her for however long he wanted to down here.

But even more likely than that: what if he died, and never came back to release her?! No one even knew that she was down her-and even if they did, they sure as hell didn't have the key-so if the Phantom were to go and terrorize the Opéra House again (as Kairi now understood he must have been doing for a long time), what was she to do in that time?! She'd simply waste away, wouldn't she?!

Kairi nearly meant to choke herself then, to put herself out of reach of all the questions and misery, but memories of eyes the color of the sky kept her from doing so.

Sora... he had been a part of the Navy, hadn't he? So hopefully he'd put that training to good use, and come get her from this prison.

Kairi could only hope, anyway. And as hope seemed much the better alternative to the kind of life that Riku had been living down here, she found that she'd gladly take it.

 **Author's Note: I have so many other stories I should be working on than this right now. But do I care? No, because I've finally decided how I want to handle this whole story.**

 **Basically, I mean I now know which parts of this are going to be musical, Leroux, a mixture of the two, my own vision for the story, etc.**

 **And speaking of Leroux, you guys should be seeing a lot more of that here (and for the rest of the story following this) than last chapter. Yay! I actually prefer the novel, so that's good news to me! And in case you missed it, Roxas will be Philippe in this and Xion, Sorelli:)**

 **I like those castings, I think. Like, there are some in here I'm iffy about (like Olette as Carlotta), but SRK's and Roxas, Xion, and Namin** **é** **'s parts I think are pretty fitting of them. Some of the others too, probably.**

 **Btw, people, how much do you care about the managers' role being in this story? Because I love the managers, don't get me wrong, but I just don't know how much people really want them here, or how much I can include of them while keeping the tone that I want. So if you guys want me to keep all the managers' scenes in this, let me know. Otherwise, I might end up cutting some of them. -shrugs-**

 **Umm... What else do I want to say about this story? I swear I always forget the important things I need to talk about in ANs. Gah!**

 **Oh, yeah! I hope none of you are too bothered by this, but I don't think I'm going to have the characters here speak overly old-fashioned. Not because I don't like that sort of dialect (I actually love it, and we'll probably still see some of it here), but just because it's really hard believing Sora (and some of the others) would EVER talk like that to me** : **even given the time period this is based on. And as I'm trying to mostly keep everyone in-character and to sound like themselves, I just decided to forego the entire thing with Sora in particular. But IDK. What do you guys think?**

 **Also, this would probably be a good time to point out that I am a DIEHARD SoKai and Raoul/Christine shipper. Those are my OTPS from both fandoms this story's based on, and so there's a chance you might easily be able to tell what I favor in later parts of this fic, HOWEVER I'm trying my darndest to keep it canon and to give RiKai-for instance-some equal footing with SoKai. So hopefully I'm doing a good job with that. Let me know:)**

 **Though honestly, if I do end up sounding biased in here later, it won't because of Riku that I do so (I adore Riku, actually, and even ship RiKai quite a bit); it'll be because he's supposed to be Erik.**

 **And Erik... Well, to put it frankly, I'm trying not to Draco in Leather Pants him much these days. Like, I pity the guy and cherish him to death as an awesome character: don't misunderstand me. But at the same time? I don't think you can condone any of the stuff that he did in the slightest, and I get really irked by fans who thinks he's a misunderstood baby who did absolutely nothing wrong. I mean, can we NOT ignore that he's an insane, homicidal, sociopath, please? That's kind of a big part of his character and all, and without it he's not the Phantom, in my book. And if you just sweep all that he did under the rug, then that's even WORSE, imo!**

 **I also don't really ship him and Christine at all anymore (though I used to), mainly because I see their relationship as completely abusive-and believe me, I know abusive, because I had a similar relationship where obsession was involved like it is here that that I just recently got out of-and I don't think him "winning" Christine would have just made everything okay for him, either.**

 **Nor do I think Erik even remotely DESERVED Christine after all he put her through. And I can't even IMAGINE the strain she would have always been under if she'd chosen him, to make sure he didn't snap and kill people anyone.**

 **Plus, Raoul de Chagny is just completely great, okay? (And deserves SO much more love than he gets from the Phandom. OMG!) And he and Christine are just so adorable and sweet together; they're good for each other and have so much faith in one another. So what more could you even need, really?**

 **...And now I'm ranting and probably alienating some of my readership. Oops. Sorry, guys. Just feel free to ignore me; and don't feel the need to agree with me on all of this, either. Variety is the spice of life, after all^_^**

 **And with that, I think I've covered everything I meant to say about this. Thank you all for reading. See you guys next time!:D**

 **-Shanna**

 **Edit: It is now 4:00 A.M. where I'm at, and I'm staying up this late so that I can finish this-and hopefully post it early tomorrow-so you guys won't have to wait any longer for this chappie. Love me. LOL. Especially since I'm now probably even going to miss the fair that my town's having tomorrow, as I'm probably just going to pass out and not wake up until Tuesday after having done this for y'all. LOL.**


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